1854.] WILSON — CALIFORNIA GOLO-FIELDS. 311 



autumn, wMch is the best season for working in the rivers, the water 

 being then low, one of my associates, Mr. Wallace, and myself 

 joined a company on the North Fork of the Stanislaus, that had 

 been formed for the purpose of cutting a new course for the river, in 

 order to get the gold that might be in the river's bed. 



The rock-formation was the same as that at Sulivan's Creek, but 

 the hills are very precipitous. The boulders in the stream were of 

 granite, indicating that the surface-rock of the country higher up 

 was of that description. This was soon afterwards affirmed by a 

 party who had traced the river to its source, but without finding 

 gold. 



Intermittent Spring. — About half a mile from our camp there 

 was a small stream joining the river, which evidently flowed from 

 a spring in the guUey above ; but, having occasion to cross it fre- 

 quently, we observed that about noon every day it ceased to flow. In 

 one of my rambles afterwards, I came upon the place from which it 

 sprung, but it was so filled with fragments of rock, that I could 

 find no clue to the cause of its intermissions. 



Stanislaus River Diggings ; lower down the river. — We worked for 

 three weeks on the northern branch of the river, but did not think 

 the indications sufficiently encouraging to proceed with the work. 

 We therefore removed to another bar, about twelve miles lower down 

 the river, and in order to avoid the windings of the stream, we took 

 the nearest track across the country. The first five miles were 

 amongst hills of porphyritic rocks ; but the remainder of the way 

 was over slate-rocks and gold-fields. 



The company to which we were now joined (forty men in num- 

 ber) had commenced operations for the purpose of turning the river ; 

 its bed being supposed to be rich, in consequence of the situation 

 being a little below Carson's Creek, and other rich creeks, from 

 which it was supposed that large quantities of gold might have been 

 washed ; and the vertical slates running across the bed of the river 

 were supposed to have many crevices in which the gold would have 

 been deposited. 



While quarrying the hard slate-rock, through which we had 

 to cut our canal for the purpose of draining the river, we found 

 a fossil bivalve shell resembling an Orthis ? (to which my attention 

 has since been called by Sir R. Murchison). The position of the 

 fossil (like that of the rock in which it was imbedded) was on edge ; 

 and, the fossil having been split through together with its matrix, 

 there remained a perfect impression on each piece of rock. The 

 substance of the shell had become soft like clialk. 



Having completed our works on the river, we had the mortification 

 of finding that it was not sufficiently rich to pay for working at the 

 rates then required by miners, and the company was accordingly 

 broken up, after having spent three months in fruitless labour on the 

 Stanislaus. 



River-workings ; and Position of Auriferous debris in river beds. 

 — Our experience taught us that gold is not to be found in the 



VOL. X. PART I. Z 



